Sledding Adventures
by Martin III
Summary: Haruhi takes the SOS Brigade on a sledding trip. Even if there's nothing paranormal involved, Kyon isn't sure this is quite safe. And there are underlying tensions between him and Haruhi. Still, the brigade chief's plan to put two people in each sled presents enticing possibilities for him.


**Author's notes:** When I came up with the idea for this story, I thought it would make a nice fun fluff piece, just pure humor. When I sat down to write it all the relationship stuff worked its way in. Nonetheless, this is essentially a continuity-free fic, taking place at no particular time more specific than winter of Haruhi and Kyon's first year at North High. Hopefully you all enjoy.

The characters and milieu of this fan fiction work are property of Nagaru Tanigawa, Kyoto Animation, and Funimation.

* * *

**Sledding Adventures**

Now, look. I don't think I'm being unreasonable here, or even cynical.

Isn't sledding basically the same thing as skiing, just for kids?

Not according to Haruhi. "Why are you so dense? They're two completely different things!"

"Oh, really. So which is the one where you step into something with a smooth underside, and rapidly descend a snow-covered hill?"

She rolled her eyes. "That's like saying that football and baseball are the same thing because they both have two teams running around a big field and scoring points. Sledding puts you much closer to the snow, and gives you less control. You can go down much faster, and enjoy the snow whipping into your face. It's much more thrilling! Plus," She raised four fingers, as if she'd been counting the differences all along. "...you can share a sled ride. Even the cheapest sleds have enough room for two people, even if you have to snuggle together a bit. Riding together gives you a shared experience that can't be matched by anything you do on your own!"

Hold on. Snuggle?

I looked at Miss Asahina, who was setting the teapot on its tray. If this meant getting to press my body close to hers... Granted, Haruhi being in charge meant we'd probably be paired off at random, so my odds of getting on a sled with Miss Asahina were no better than getting on with anyone else. But I'd gladly take that chance.

"I think it's a fine idea," Koizumi chimed in. "There are plenty of sledding hills around, so we shouldn't need a lodge to stay at. It will be the perfect day trip for a Saturday."

"Then it's settled!" Haruhi slapped a palm down on the table. "Both officers approve, so the SOS Brigade sledding trip is officially on!"

"Now wait a second..." I began, before my mind caught up with things and realized that a sledding trip was, in fact, exactly what I wanted. Not that raising an outcry for a more democratic government would have been anything but a hollow gesture, anyway. Nagato wasn't around, having gone to the Computer Society clubroom, so if it came down to a vote the best I could hope for was a deadlock.

Maybe Haruhi sensed my train of thought, because she shot me a condescending look before she began dictating the details to the group at large. "Now, we'll meet at the bus station at 10 o'clock..."

* * *

Naturally, when I arrived the rest of them were all there, clustered together like a waddle of penguins. Haruhi was holding in front of herself a large metal bowl.

Actually, as I got closer I saw that it was too shallow to be called a bowl. It was more like a contact lens, only nearly as big as Haruhi herself. And again, made of metal. It was like she'd just stolen a giant robot's tea saucer. Knowing Haruhi, that might not be too far off the mark.

She was looking at me, lips pursed with displeasure. "Why do you always have to keep us waiting?"

I double-checked my phone's display. "It's 9:58."

"We've been waiting for you for 20 minutes! Don't you care about your responsibilities to the brigade?"

Rather than continue lecturing, she huffed and turned her back to me. She'd been really prickly about my brigade performance lately. It used to be she'd just bark out "You're late. Penalty!" and be done with it. Now it was like she was trying to send me on a guilt trip. And no, it wasn't working.

I turned to Koizumi. "Where are our sleds?"

"This is it," he said, holding a hand out towards Haruhi's metal contact lens. "Miss Suzumiya is the only one of us who had one."

"You're joking."

He shook his head.

_Argh. So... many... questions..._ "If that's the case..." _And I don't see how it could be, giving the backing of Koizumi and Miss Asahina's organization, and Nagato's ability to change one object into a completely different one._ "...why not just buy another one?"

"This is all we need," Haruhi interjected, whipping around. "We just have to take turns with it. If that's not good enough for you, then maybe _you_ should have bought one."

"Why would I have done that, when no one told me we only had the one?"

"If that was important to you, you should have asked how many sleds we have. Initiative, Kyon! Initiative!"

I slumped my shoulders and sighed. "What kind of sled is that, anyway?"

"The very best sled to take if you want aliens to come out and play!" She hefted it proudly. "A saucer!"

_...The scary part is, I can't tell if she's completely serious or not._ "That's well and good for the aliens, but how do you expect a human to ride on that thing?"

"You sit down here," - she patted the concave side of the saucer, producing a dull metallic ring - "and hold on to the grips." I hadn't noticed them at first, but there were indeed two strips of cloth held into loops by pins on opposite sides of the saucer. "Not hard."

"But that design makes no sense. The bottom has no runners, or anything, so how do you even keep it going in the same direction?"

"You _don't._ That's what makes it fun!"

"Ah..." Miss Asahina was standing next to Koizumi, and grabbed his arm, closely enough for me to want to slug his smiling face. "I-is it safe?"

"Nobody ever got ahead in life by playing it safe!"

_I don't think anybody ever got ahead in life by sledding, either. Wait, is sledding an Olympic event?_

Haruhi was still looking at me. "Are you in or not?"

Well, I sure wasn't going to leave Miss Asahina to go sledding on that death mobile without protection. Or worse, under Koizumi's protection.

"Good. It would have been a pain to have to tie you to the saucer and drag you along."

* * *

When we boarded the bus, Haruhi sat Miss Asahina down with her and told Nagato to hold onto the saucer, which easily took up two seats by itself, so that left me to sit with Koizumi. The bus was loaded enough that we couldn't get seats near enough the three girls to talk with them, or even hear Haruhi's noisy chatter.

"Forgive me if I have misread you," Koizumi said, taking off his gloves. "...but are you carrying a grudge of some sort against Miss Suzumiya?"

"What, just because I'm arguing with her?"

"Hardly," he chuckled. "Your arguing with Miss Suzumiya might be considered the status quo. Your arrival time, however, is a different story. Two minutes before the scheduled meeting is cutting it close, even for you."

_As if Haruhi lecturing me about my arriving _on time_ wasn't annoying enough._ "I got there by the time she told us to. What more do you two want?"

"I admit she does a poor job of expressing it, but Miss Suzumiya appreciates that you show up at brigade gatherings with time to spare. It demonstrates that whatever objections you may raise, you are enthusiastic about these activities, and you respect the schedule she sets. An eleventh hour arrival, on the other hand, tells her that you don't really care. Since I am doubtful that such is truly the case..." He turned and gave me a soft, endeared smile that annoyed the hell out of me. "...I am led to the conclusion that you showed up when you did with the intent of rankling her. You certainly seem to have succeeded at that, given that she entrusted the sled to Miss Nagato instead of you."

_Damn. That last part hadn't even occurred to me. Have I actually been demoted from the position of manual laborer?_ "The only thing that's more trouble than an exuberant Haruhi is a rankled Haruhi. Why would I want that?"

"Indeed, why? Especially given your particular liking for seeing her in a happy state?"

"Maybe you should consider that I simply got tired of her expecting me to jump whenever she wants something?" I scoffed. "It's time she started accepting that other people have their own desires and plans."

"Oh, is that it?" Koizumi said, with keen interest. "You want to teach her a lesson?"

It struck me that our mysterious transfer student might have tricked me into saying more than I intended. "Or I was just running a little late today. Not everything is explained by a conspiracy theory."

"Ah, but it's obvious from the way you talk about it that your arrival time was no accident. Still, if you were trying to teach Miss Suzumiya a lesson, you went about it in an uncharacteristically roundabout way. I find it more likely that you were trying to conceal something from her. Perhaps you have grown uncomfortable at her increasing awareness of how attached you are to her."

"If anyone's behavior here should be questioned, it's yours. Why didn't you bring another sled or two?"

He clasped his hands together. "Consider it an experiment. Miss Suzumiya was very excited about this particular sled. If we had several sleds, what would happen?"

We wouldn't have to wait around while other people took their turns and carried the sled back up the hill, I'll bet.

"Each of us would have picked our own favorite sled and spent all our time riding it by ourselves. We would not have had a shared experience as friends, but five individual experiences that simply took place at the same time and location." He parted his hands. "I was more interested in finding out what Miss Suzumiya's special sled has to offer us all."

"You could have at least consulted the rest of us beforehand."

"Didn't I?" He put a hand to his chin in consideration. "Ah, that's right. You left the meeting early, so you missed the discussion on the acquisition of sleds."

I glanced at him, folding my arms. "Are you going to get on my case about leaving early, too? I had tons of studying to do."

He didn't meet my glance. "On a Friday evening?"

"I sure wasn't going to be able to get it done today, was I?"

"Sensible, but you've never let your studies take you from SOS Brigade activities before. In fact, if you'll forgive my saying so, I don't believe you've ever let your studies take you away from anything before." He cupped his hands together. "If I may make a suggestion, don't be so afraid of Miss Suzumiya seeing your feelings. She may seem careless with other people's concerns, but she is a great believer in fairness, and she innately wishes to achieve a right relationship with you. If she becomes aware that you are in fact invested in her interests and wishes, she will be all the more resolved to take care of your own interests and wishes."

"You really are a shameless optimist, aren't you?" I sighed.

So, Miss Asahina had agreed to a single sled too. But why? She probably didn't know what kind of death sled Haruhi was going to bring, but...

Oh well, no sense thinking about it. I could always ask her about it later.

* * *

"Now this one is perfect!" Haruhi announced when we arrived at what had to be both the highest and the steepest slope in the entire park. Maybe the entire prefecture.

To be honest, though, I wasn't paying much attention to the slope at that moment. The sight of Nagato carrying that sled around was beginning to really bother me. Maybe it was her odd method. Instead of carrying it by her side with one hand like anyone else would, she needlessly clasped the thing on both sides and hefted it over her head.

"Hey, Nagato," I offered, "let me carry that for you."

Nagato was willing, but Haruhi spun around and snapped, "Hey, don't you touch that, Kyon! You're probably planning to break it, or something!"

"What? Why would you even think that?" I returned her glare.

"Don't play dumb. It's obvious you think it's dangerous to ride on."

"Well, yeah, but I wouldn't ruin an activity that everyone else wanted to do. Or break your things," I added awkwardly.

"That's what I used to think, too. But lately, I don't know if I can trust you." She made a sweeping gesture. "You're not carrying the saucer."

"You're being completely ridiculous." I turned to Nagato. "Give me the sled."

Nagato looked at me. Then she slightly shook her head.

"Nagato?" I was stunned.

She still didn't say anything, just turned away and headed up the slope.

"Trying to get Yuki to disobey my orders?" Haruhi's eyes lowered in imperious disgust. "Despicable."

Ignoring Haruhi, I trumped up the slope after Nagato. The snow was so deep, I was sinking up to my knees with each step, while Nagato simply walked over the surface, her lesser weight not enough to crack all the way through the firm surface layer. It made it hard to keep up with her. "Hey, Nagato... wait up..."

She strode along, still silent. Behind me I could hear Miss Asahina yelping and struggling with the steep snow drifts, Haruhi barking out encouragement and orders for Koizumi to lend her a hand, but they couldn't distract me from the little soldier in a winter coat marching ahead of me.

"Hey, Nagato!" I called, finally coming within arm's reach. "What was that all about?"

Her face shifted towards me slightly. "...I have a favor to ask."

"Huh?" Her tone was so earnest, I didn't have the heart to tell her not to change the subject. "A favor? Sure, what is it?" Heck, she'd done so much for me, it was refreshing to be asked something from her for a change.

"Please do not ask me to defy Haruhi Suzumiya's wishes again."

"Oh." _Oh, geez. I can be an idiot sometimes. _"I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. You're worried about her creating closed space again, aren't you?"

"No. If you believe your actions will not cause closed space, it is improbable they will."

"That's good. So, then why...?"

She had stopped walking. "It confuses me." Her head lowered. "I do not wish to choose between you."

"Oh. I'm sorry about that. But, um, I actually meant, why wouldn't you give me the sled? You don't think I'd really break it, do you?"

She started walking again. Maybe she didn't want the others to catch up and overhear us. "You are different."

"What do you mean?"

"Your information patterns do not fall within parameters derived from past observations. Colloquially, you are 'not yourself today'."

"So you can't trust me?" I puffed for air, still struggling to keep up.

"I can," she said. "But I was forced to choose between you and a person who is the same. It was the only factor on which I could make an unambiguous judgment."

Well, I wasn't sure I understood all of that, but Nagato was certainly right about Haruhi being the same as ever. Nagato could read us all as well as any of her books, even if she didn't talk about it much.

When we finally reached the top, I let myself collapse, falling back to rest in the snow.

"Whew." I laid back, enjoying the view of the sky. Nagato just stood waiting, still holding the sled. "Hey. Are you looking forward to this?"

She looked at me. "...A little."

"I guess it's the first time you've done any sledding at all, huh?"

She just looked at me, unchanging. Maybe she thought the answer to that question was too obvious to bother with. But there was something else there too, a little hopeful glimmer...

The others tromped up to where we were waiting. "Hey, get up," Haruhi commanded. "You're going to ride down first, so you need to get primed!"

"Huh?" I sat up. "Why me?"

She cocked her head. "Koizumi says that since you're determined to not have fun anyway, you should be the test pilot. Then we can see if there are any problems and take appropriate countermeasures. Makes sense, doesn't it?"

And Koizumi was smiling as she said this, damn him. "You wouldn't trust me to even carry the sled up the hill, but you're trusting me to ride it, by myself, and carry it back up? How does that even _begin_ to make sense?"

"Why do you question every favor I give you?" She folded her arms and looked away, and said, without even allowing me the chance to respond to the question, "Well, if you must know, I thought it over and decided it was worth the risk of giving you a second chance."

_How generous, given that I never mucked up any first chance._

I stretched my limbs and back muscles. "Alright. Let's get this over with."

Then, for the first time, I happened to glance down the hill. I'd been looking up at Nagato the whole ascent, then at the sky while I lay down, and then at Haruhi while she gave her mad orders. Looking at that steep descent, surely enough to allow a sledder to exceed 100 kilometers per hour, I regretted being so blasé. In fact, I regretted not having chained myself to a tree at the bottom of this slope.

Scratch that. Haruhi would have just found a way to cut through the chains and made me ride down twice as many times as punishment.

"Put the saucer down for him, Yuki," she ordered.

Once again, Nagato followed an instruction a little too verbatim. She placed the sled in front of me and stood back up, and naturally it immediately started sliding downhill.

"Yuki!"

Before I could even groan at the thought of having to go all the way down the hill and up again to fetch the sled, Koizumi dove after it. His leap hit the mark: he landed on the saucer and the impact of his weight made a crater in the snow, entrapping it.

"Wow! Great catch, Koizumi!"

"Th-that was amazing!" Miss Asahina gaped in awe.

"Seriously, he's like an action hero or something!"

I had to admit, I never knew Koizumi could be so quick to spring into action. That isn't to say I wasn't gritting my teeth at the girls' cheers of adulation. My one consolation was that Nagato wasn't joining in, but I guess when your species traveled across galaxies to get where you are, a little leap doesn't seem like much of a feat.

_Or, maybe...?_ Looking into Nagato's eyes, seeing the way she subtly avoided looking at Koizumi and the sled, I wondered if she felt embarrassed at her mistake.

Koizumi brought the saucer back into position and held onto it while I climbed in. The steep descent looked even more terrifying from a seated perspective. "Don't let go until I'm good and ready," I muttered to Koizumi.

"I wouldn't dream of it," he returned.

"Come on, Kyon, pull your heels out of the snow and tuck them in!" Haruhi barked. "Quit stalling!"

_As if this isn't nerve-wracking enough._ Taking my heels out of the snow meant completely relinquishing control of my life and limb. Regardless of what Koizumi said, if Haruhi directed him to let go, he would immediately let go, whether I was ready or not.

"I have to get myself balanced," I tried, gripping the sides of the sled, heart racing just at the feel of gravity pulling at me.

"You _can't,_" Haruhi countered. "One side is the same as any other on a saucer. You have to just hang on and enjoy the ride! Come on, the rest of us are waiting for our turns. You're only making it worse for yourself by dragging this part out."

_Not as much worse as your badgering is making it. __Still, clearly there's no backing out at this point, and if I'm going to get killed here, __s__itting in one part of the sled rather than another isn't going to save me._

With a supreme effort of will, I pulled my legs all the way inside, sitting in a crude approximation of the lotus position within the fragile little saucer.

"Ready?" Koizumi prompted.

"Y-yeah."

I couldn't fully suppress the stammer, but that didn't stop Haruhi from belting out "Go!" Koizmi released the sled, and in two seconds I had picked up a velocity comparable to a speeding car. My chest clenched and I leaned back in preparation for even more terrifying speeds -

\- and the saucer spun around in a perfect 180, leaving me facing back up the hill, with no view whatsoever of where I was now careening on the seemingly frictionless saucer.

I did the only thing I could.

"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

The wind was now rushing past my ears. Even so, I could hear Haruhi laughing her head off, clutching her sides in cruel mirth at my peril. She was like an evil sorceress, cackling as her faithful minion plunged to his doom.

And standing beside her was the fair princess, her graceful hands clasped together, eyes pierced with anxiety for the valiant knight. (It's my metaphor, so I'll describe myself however I want, damn it.) The jester looked on with an amused smile, and maybe a chuckle – I couldn't tell for sure whether he was shaking, since the jolting and hopping of the saucer over the uneven ground was making them all bounce a bit to my eyes. The mysterious sage just watched impassively, perhaps concerned, but taking no action.

My lungs miraculously were not running out of air, even as a seeming eternity of blindly rocketing downhill while the saucer jarred over every slightest bump passed by with me screaming without pause.

Then there was a loud metallic bang and a violent change in my velocity. The saucer went one way, and I went another, my back whacking down on the firm crust of ice and snow that covered this part of the hill. I spat out something unintelligible, and felt a deep fear that I might have broken something.

When that explosive sensation of shock and pain had passed, the first thing I became aware of was that Haruhi was still laughing.

I sat up, face burning with anger and embarrassment. Koizumi was trotting down the hill towards me. "Nothing hurt but your pride, I trust?"

_I'm going to enjoy seeing how you do on that death ride, Koizumi._ But for the moment I didn't really have a good retort, so I just grunted, "What happened?"

"You hit a tree." After giving me a cursory glance, he walked right past me and picked up the saucer. "Luckily this happened to catch on a rock."

"You could at least pretend to care whether or not I've broken something."

He shrugged. "You didn't say you were hurt. You're not normally one to hide your injuries. One of your more refreshing qualities. Would you like a hand up?"

My body was stinging a little from the crash, even if the pain was clearly fading, so I took the hand he offered and pulled myself to my feet. We headed back up.

"You made it about halfway down," he commented. "Not bad for a first try."

"It's a little late to try flattering me now. I saw you and Haruhi laughing."

"Going down backwards is an amusing error, even if it is an understandable one. And you held up well under that adversity."

I could tell that Koizumi was trying to soothe my temper, though in a rather idiotic way, rather than manipulate me. I decided to cut him a break. "I suppose I should be thankful just to be alive," I sighed.

Haruhi, having finally stopped laughing, was not so easily satisfied. "Going down backwards was your own fault, you know," she said, before I could even try to criticize the sled's circular design. "When you leaned back, you drastically changed the center of gravity shared by you and the saucer. That made gravity pull stronger on the back end of the saucer than the other parts, spinning you around. If you'd just stuck close to the center, you would have stayed in equilibrium and everything would have been fine."

_Great. As if this wasn't fun enough already, we get a physics lesson thrown in._

She took off her gloves. "Let me take a look at you to make sure nothing's broken."

_After the way you laughed at my crash, it's a little late to act worried._

"I'm not worried." She opened up my coat and started pressing her fingers into my sides. "You just need to be careful of these things. Does it hurt when I do this?"

"No."

She moved her fingers to a different spot. I was still wearing my shirt, by the way, so don't get any funny ideas. "How about this?"

"Not really."

"And when I do this?"

"Nothing."

"And when I do – _this?_" Her hand darted up to pinch my cheek.

"Ow! Dammit!"

I swatted her hand away, and Haruhi, Koizumi, and even dear Miss Asahina broke out into laughter. I cursed them silently as I rubbed at my cheek.

"Okay, you might have a bruise or two in the morning, but you're all in one piece," Haruhi affirmed, putting her gloves back on. Then she gave a little hop of excitement. "Alright, as brigade chief, it's my turn to ride next! Mikuru, you get to come with me!"

"Wh-waaahh?" Miss Asahina yelped, awkwardly cutting off her laughter. "R-r-right now?"

_Well, you'll have to get on that thing sooner or later. What difference does it make when?_ That said, I had my own objection to her going next. If she went with Haruhi, that would likely exclude her from going later with me, the one thing I had to look forward to on this trip.

"W-w-wait!" Miss Asahina struggled helplessly as Haruhi grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to the deadly saucer, which Koizumi was holding in place. "I'm not ready! Can't you give someone else a turn, so they..."

"I've chosen you as my co-pilot! Stop being ungrateful!"

"Hold on," I cut in, gripping Haruhi by the shoulder. "If she doesn't want to go, you shouldn't force her. That makes it no fun for anyone."

"Hmmph, fine." She let go with a disappointed sniff. She always did love being partnered with Miss Asahina. In her own stubborn mind, the two of them were BFFs. "I'll go with Koizumi, then."

He brightened. "It would be an honor and a pleasure, Miss Suzumiya."

I remembered what Haruhi said about snuggling. "Wait – wait a moment," I protested. "That's no good, either." My mind raced while the rest of the SOS Brigade all stared at me with curious expectancy. "If Koizumi goes, he can't hold the sled while you board it, and the rest of us aren't... experienced at sled holding. We can't let our brigade chief take that kind of risk."

_...Okay, what was that? What even _was_ that, Kyon? "Aren't experienced at sled holding"? "__Can't let our brigade chief take that kind of..."?__ Someone shoot me now. I'm too stupid to live._

The others just stood and blinked at me for a moment or two, utterly stupefied.

Then Haruhi's eyes narrowed shrewdly. "Ohhh, I get it. You want to ride with your brigade chief."

_What? Oh crap, no, that's not what I -_

"That would be giving him two rides in a row," Koizumi objected.

"Well, that part actually makes sense," Haruhi said, putting a hand to her chin. "If we do it so every person goes twice in a row, then everyone gets an equal number of turns, and every person going for the first time will be paired up with someone who's already gone. It'll be reassuring to the person going for the first time. Mikuru, you'll feel safer then, right?"

"Well..." Miss Asahina fidgeted. "...if I have to go, then yes, I'd feel better doing it with someone who's done it once."

"Great!" Haruhi said, and there was an "It's decided" gleam in her eye. "Kyon really doesn't deserve to have a ride with his brigade chief, but I can be generous now and then. I'll go with him, and after that you and me can ride together."

She sat down in the saucer while I struggled over what to do. The scheme Haruhi had just laid out left little chance of my getting a ride with Miss Asahina. But getting her to change plans again would be like a swimmer forcing an ocean liner to change directions.

"Get in," Haruhi said, and slapped the spot next to her on the saucer. The metallic clanging sounded ominous. I sighed and squeezed in beside her. The saucer seemed made to fit just one person, or perhaps two young children; my right side was pressed quite snugly against Haruhi's left, while our four legs jockeyed for space a bit before sorting out whose side was whose.

"Wait a second," I said, grasping the snowy ground. "Won't our combined weight make us go even faster?"

"Don't be ridiculous," she snorted, wrapping her left arm around me to clasp my shoulder. (I kept my right hand planted stoically in the bottom of the sled.) "Acceleration due to gravity is a constant 9.8 meters per second squared while in free fall, regardless of weight or mass. If anything, we'll go a little slower, because our greater surface area will produce greater wind resistance. Don't you pay _any_ attention in class?"

_Oy. Another physics lesson. Well, it could have been worse. If I were riding with Koizumi, he'd have answered with something about how all speed is relative, and I probably wouldn't have understood a word of whatever Nagato might answer._

Still holding onto the sled, Koizumi leaned close to my ear – way too close for comfort – and whispered, "You had better enjoy your ride with Miss Suzumiya."

I didn't like the sound of that. "This isn't what I wanted."

"Isn't it?" His voice still had a menacingly irritated tone. "You certainly seemed set against her riding with anyone else. Miss Nagato is the only one you didn't get around to eliminating."

Before I could respond to that, Haruhi said, "Okay, we're ready to go! Koizumi, release!"

Then I was barreling down the slope again. Icy air slapped at my face. Instinctively I tried to lean back again, but Haruhi's arm around my shoulders had anticipated that move and kept me seated straight. It was terrifying at first, having to look at the terrain rushing towards us at light speed, but then the presence of Haruhi's arm started to feel reassuring.

We were headed for the same tree I'd already hit. "Lean right!" Haruhi ordered. Without thinking, I followed her command, our two bodies leaning together. The shift in weight tilted the saucer onto its right side, and ever so slightly steered it in that direction. We slid past the tree, scuffing off a piece of bark.

Haruhi was laughing. This time not in mockery, but in deranged enjoyment.

For a moment, I thought I had some mild cause for merriment myself. Our turn, compounded by our combined weight, made the sled dig into the snow a bit, slowing us down. Flecks of snow sprayed up into our faces, splattering us with icy wetness, but we were slowing down. Probably still fast enough to outrace any dogsled, but slower.

Then: "Oh cr-" I saw it only a split second in advance, and we were upon it before the words could get out of my mouth: a patch of smooth, almost solid ice.

"Speed boost!" Haruhi cried, lurching forward to aid the saucer's already near-frictionless run.

_Are you kidding me?_ We seemed to dive into warp speed. My mouth hung open, but I was too terrified to even scream.

Haruhi was laughing again. Her head pressed snugly against my side. Glancing over, I saw strands of her hair whipping into her face, eyes sparkling with sheer joy. It was insane, but in that moment she looked like the heroine of an epic fantasy adventure.

"Lean right!" I did as she said, and saw I'd been distracted from an incoming rock. We swerved by it, and then: "Lean left!" This time it was a tree stump. Feeling like I was getting to be an old hand at this, I helped Haruhi tilt the saucer enough to steer us well clear of the obstacle. Then it was nothing but a rush of acceleration.

We neared the bottom of the hill, and I felt relief that we were going to make it through alive. The sheer slope tapered off into a gradual descent, and then a flat horizontal surface. We still had plenty of momentum left, but the ride was coming to an end. The saucer pitter-pattered over the rough snowy terrain.

Then there was a light "Wumph" sound, and I was sailing head-over-heels. Haruhi lost her grip on my shoulder, and we both lost our grip on the sled. My mind couldn't process the facts at the moment, but we must have hit a light bump, the sort that gave us just a brief airborne moment when we ran over them coming down the hill, but was able to seriously change the sled's direction at our decreased velocity.

I landed head first in the snow. Nothing like a burst of cold wetness being shoved in your face and down your collar to sour your mood. When I righted myself, though, Haruhi was laughing again.

I couldn't help it. I laughed with her.

I laughed in mirth at our ridiculous landing, and in relief at having come through the ride alive. That's all.

When we were both laughed out, I got up and retrieved the sled, ready to head back up. But Haruhi was still lying where she fell.

"Carry me up the hill," she said.

I stopped. "If your leg's hurt, we should get you to a hospital, not -"

"I didn't say my leg was hurt," she rolled her eyes. "I just want you to carry me."

_Yeah, I'm pretty sure that doesn't fall under my responsibilities._

"It's your penalty for being late today," she explained. "Do it _now_, without arguing, and I'll never mention the matter again."

"...Okay." Haruhi would probably force me to do it, one way or another. I squatted down with my back to her, and she wrapped her arms around my shoulders. I tied one of the saucer handles around my arm, leaving my hands free to grasp Haruhi's legs and lift her up piggyback style.

"Mmm. Good job, for once."

"Be nice. Anytime I want, I can just fall backwards and crush you under me."

"You wouldn't dare. That would triple your penalty!"

Ordinarily I would have grumbled something back, but I was still feeling so good, I just let out a short laugh. Haruhi giggled in return.

I trudged up the slope. Haruhi's added weight hardly seemed to make a difference. I guess she probably didn't weigh much; she was a slender girl. But even the skinniest teenage girl had to weigh at least 80 pounds or so, which was nothing to sneeze at when you were climbing a sheer slope like this. Maybe my mood was giving me a boost of strength.

"Mmm." Haruhi squeezed herself a little tighter against my back. "You're warmer than I would have thought."

_Just what is that supposed to mean?_

"It's just, you hide your feelings so much of the time. You come off a little cold, you know?"

_What the heck do emotions have to do with physical heat?_

"I know it doesn't make sense," she said sharply. "There are just certain preconceptions we can't help but have, okay?"

"Okay."

"Don't act all superior, like you don't have your prejudices too!"

"Oh, you know that for a fact?"

"Of course I do! You think I don't know who you are? Idiot."

I let it drop.

Haruhi was warmer than I had thought, too. Not that I didn't expect her to be warm, but she was like a bonfire. My back, which had been practically frozen solid from the bitter cold air and the slush dripping down into my collar, was getting nice and toasty. It was like being wrapped in a nice electric blanket. I was really getting the better half of this deal. I couldn't let her know that, though, or she'd argue that I hadn't paid off the penalty.

Still, maybe she had a point. Haruhi didn't hide her feelings. When I was in that coma, she didn't even try to conceal the fact that she'd stayed by my side the whole time because she was worried about me. She could have told Koizumi and the others to say that she'd just been taking regular shifts like them, but she didn't. For Valentine's Day, she could have just handed me a box of store-bought chocolates, but she didn't. Even though it embarrassed her, she allowed me to know she cared.

How many times had I done the same? Hardly ever. It was certainly easier on me that way. It helped avoid people misunderstanding what my relationship with Haruhi was. But it wasn't fair. Even Haruhi deserved better than that.

"Haruhi," I said.

"Yeah?" She didn't sound the least bit sore from our little quarrel of a minute ago.

"I'm sorry I was late today. I really didn't want to miss this; it's just that sometimes I have a hard time getting my act together in the morning."

She didn't say anything to that.

I tried some levity. "I'll do my best to not let it happen again. I don't like to fall short of my SOS Brigade responsibilities."

Still no response. Maybe I hadn't been sincere enough?

As we neared the spot where the others were waiting, Haruhi said, "That really was a fun sled ride."

"Yeah," I admitted.

"Are you hurt, Miss Suzumiya?" Koizumi called down.

"Nope," she chirped, hopping off of my back. "Set the saucer down for me and Mikuru, Kyon!"

I did as she said. Holding the sled in place for Miss Asahina was the next best thing to riding with her, right?

Haruhi hopped right in. Miss Asahina approached more timidly, and for a moment, my mind entertained the bizarre idea of jumping in and taking off with Haruhi, stealing another ride. Then Miss Asahina grasped my arm to steady herself as she climbed in, and all such insanity was wiped from my thoughts. If only it could have been _her_ who I got to carry up the hill.

The girls gave the ready signal, and I let go. They sped down the hill, Miss Asahina wailing with dismay, Haruhi still laughing.

"Well," Koizumi remarked in a cheerful voice, "By the manner in which you two came back up, I gather you did enjoy your ride with Miss Suzumiya indeed."

"What nonsense are you talking now?" I shook my head. "She was too lazy to come up on her own two legs. What does that have to do with my enjoyment?"

He smiled. "I am confident she would not have asked you for the lift unless the two of you enjoyed yourselves. Moreover, I am confident she would not have asked unless you had done something to make up for your last minute arrival."

"You've got that in reverse. I didn't even apologize until after I started carrying her back up."

The damn smile only brightened. "I hadn't even considered you might go so far as to apologize. You and Miss Suzumiya tend to reconcile in other ways, and I suspect that's what happened here, even if you threw an apology on top of it."

_Oh, so the apology was superfluous. Well, I don't give a damn. Contrary to what Koizumi said, I didn't arrive late to piss Haruhi off, or teach her a lesson, or anything like that, and I wasn't going to allow her to think otherwise. Koizumi is the emotionally manipulative one in our little group, not me._

Speaking of which, as I watched Haruhi and Miss Asahina gather themselves together after an early wipeout against a tree, my thoughts went back to Koizumi's earlier, more hostile response to Haruhi and me sharing a sled ride. Was he concealing his emotions now, or had his whole desire to ride with Haruhi himself been a ruse intended to make me feel jealous or threatened?

And if it was the latter, had I played right into his hands?

Carrying the saucer back up with Miss Asahina, Haruhi flashed a smile, and I couldn't say for sure the answer was no.

END


End file.
